PHILADELPHIA-Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. and the principal members of NAI Bluestone Real Estate Capital have joined forces, GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively. The Philadelphia-based commercial real estate finance firm will combine into MMCC, bringing a team of seven finance professionals led by Matthew McManus, totaling 10 in the Philly office.

As NAI Bluestone’s former chairman, McManus tells GlobeSt.com that the independent firm has had their boots on the ground in Philly for 18 years and the merger will provide Bluestone an opportunity to be directly part of a national platform. “To be at the top of the competitive set is about incorporating investment sales and financing in a unified sweep of services,” McManus says. “If you look at every major broker out there, they have really built-up their financing capacity. Ten years ago, a lot of companies didn’t even have a financing division, whereas today, it is an imperative to be competitive in both the investment sales and financing sectors.”

Joining McManus at MMCC’s Philadelphia office are Kristopher Wood, John Banas, Matthew Rosenberg, Garrett Miller, Patricia Henne and Suzanne Moses. In addition to arranging and structuring all types of commercial real estate financing, the team will work to provide capital markets solutions for clients.

McManus will interact with both the Philadelphia and regional offices of Marcus & Millichap to assist with acquisition, disposition and finance opportunities. “My focus is almost identical prior to joining Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp., but with a new priority to support the transactional investment sales activity,” he adds.

Spencer Yablon, vice president and regional manager of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services’ Philadelphia office, who oversees the real estate and investment services side of the firm, tells GlobeSt.com that clear synergies existed between the former Bluestone team and MMCC, which he says will enhance property sales throughout the Philadelphia region. “It is all really client-driven,” Yablon says. “Matt and his team are solution providers on the debt and equity side of the equation. They are a very sophisticated group of guys and girls that can offer solutions across numerous property types.”

Yablon adds that clients are candidly seeking more value, and with roughly 40 investment sales and finance professionals now stationed in Philly, he expects MMCC’s local and regional operations to expand. “You have to be competitive and you have to be able to offer them a larger bucket and a larger suite of services,” he says. “Given that marriage with 10 finance individuals and over 30 focused on investment sales, we’ve got a pretty good one-two punch based in Philadelphia now.”

In 2010, MMCC closed nearly $1 billion in commercial real estate loans for a total of 451 transactions.